There are commercial software utilities, such as Plaxo, that allow you to access contact lists you have associated with various email programs. For instance, using Plaxo, you could instruct a computer program to access your contact lists for your Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook Express and AOL accounts to allow you to send information to desired contacts in those lists. Amazon.com allows you to forward product information to a friend by entering your friend's email address. CitySearch allows you to send yourself a text message with a restaurant listing by entering your mobile phone number. In these exemplary cases, Plaxo, Amazon.com and CitySearch gain access to the end-recipient contact phone number or email address in order to send the contact the desired information.
Wishlist Buddy™ is a software program that helps people save money on things they have in their Amazon.com Wishlist™. To use the Wishlist Buddy, a person sets target prices for items they have on their Amazon.com Wishlist, and then if any of those items falls beneath such prices, Wishlist Buddy emails the person an alert to let them know.
When right-clicking on non-Flash™ web-based advertisements many browsers give you the option to email to someone a link related to the ad.
It is desirable that you not have to disclose to a source of information the contact data, including but not limited to the telephone number and email address, of a contact to whom you wish the information to be communicated. It is also sometimes desirable to send information to contacts where the contact data is stored on a mobile communication device, such as a mobile phone, without your needing a special program on your phone. There is, therefore, a need to provide a method whereby information from a source can be readily communicated to a contact without disclosing contact data concerning the contact to the information source.
For example, an organization such as a social network involves members who have contact data concerning friends who are not members. The social network has an interest in encouraging its members to enlist their friends into the social network. The subject system provides a novel method to allow members to invite others to join the social network without disclosing to the social network contact data concerning such friends. In this way the member can protect their friends from being contacted by the social network without the request of the member or friend.